Therapy Session Take #1

[perfecttune]

WHO: Mari and you (OTA, characters are free to interact with others as well)
WHAT: Mari is hosting a therapy session! Come if you would like, or if you want to argue against it feel free to show up as well! This is more informal than it seems although she did invite some guest speakers.
WHERE: One of the large buildings that was most likely a common area for everyone, or just a super large bedroom.
WHEN: After First Crossing
WARNINGS Talk about death and violence, specific CWs will be in the text.

A message goes out on the server from Mari: Sorry for the delay everyone! I thought it best to wait a bit till after the meeting Kel thoughtfully put together for all of us! If you would like to come for the Therapy Session, please come to building X. If you would like to bring anyone or anything along please do! Special guest speakers/appearances include Makoto Naegi, Daniil Dankovsky, and Soo Won.

Mari put her tablet down and went back to straightening the chairs she was able to gather in a circle. Surely this would be welcoming? This way they could all see each other and seek comfort if needed... but just in case, she had set up private areas using curtains as a makeshift divider in case others felt the need for a one on one talk...

It still felt strange to her to not have refreshments so she had cups filled with water just in case, surely even if they didn't need to drink it still helped to make the session feel welcoming?

As people filtered in she would call out a greeting. "Welcome and thank you for coming! If you feel comfortable taking a seat please do so! There are also refreshments over there."

Comments

[toilet_bound]

Wow, Hanako is certainly feeling a bit of Deja vu in this moment…

“That’s… some sort of impressive.” Even if hope was really something that couldn’t compete against Fate. Even if one hoped to survive against a scripted event, they couldn’t - hence why they were all here.

“You seem like you really… care for him.” Or something. It was always that. Hanako’s eyes closed as he plastered a smile on his face. Even if… even if Nagito’s current behavior - the invasion of physical space, the excited chatter - reminded him of…

[blindluck]

"Of course! Anyone would if they got to know him!" Nagito is only looking more unhinged as time passes, though it's a fuzzy, adoring kind of unhinged and not something more dangerous. "Anyone who would dislike Naegi-sama is worth even less than me!"

[toilet_bound]

‘Worth even less than me’…

There it was again.

Well, Hanako was going to file that away. No need to bring it up at a public gathering.

“It’s good that I find Makoto rather interesting then!”

Not that Hanako wasn’t used to people not liking him. He just preferred it if they weren’t openly hostile.

[blindluck]

"Of course!" Of course Hanako does, and of course it's good that he does. Both things apply. "Really, even in this circumstance, it's amazing that people from entirely different worlds get to experience his hope up close."

[toilet_bound]

As Nagito continued his gleeful statements, Hanako latched onto the information. It was interesting that they all came from different places and interacted… the question was… why?

Why them? If it had just been a random note of anyone dead being pulled in, Hanako would have expected to see the rest of the Seven Wonders here, as well as a lot more… well, dead people.

But their group was tiny, selective, strangely close knit and mostly sharing in values. Furthermore, the Ferryman’s words bothered him.

“Hey, shounen, you said you and Makoto came from the same place, right?” He had verified this but… it didn’t hurt to ask again. Something about all of this seemed off…

[blindluck]

"Yes, though also not quite!" Nagito settles down as Hanako gives him something else to focus on. "We're from different instances of the same world, so in the version I'm from, my Naegi-sama is alive. And apparently in Naegi-sama's world, I'm alive as well. But according to Ferryman-san, each instance of ourselves is connected somehow."

[toilet_bound]

“So basically… you are and aren’t from the same place.” It still had his head spinning, which… was surprising. Hanako can roll with what he’s given, sure, but this…? “You’re from one spot, and he’s from another, but… you’re both still yourselves.”

[blindluck]

"Something like that. I guess from this perspective, we're like one computer that connects to a bunch of different monitors!"

That's the best metaphor Nagito can come up with for it, anyway.

[toilet_bound]

“Huh…” That stumps Hanako for a bit. He’s seen computers… and Yashiro’s school certainly had some modern ones… but he’s a bit old-fashioned. It wasn’t like he’d used the new ones himself. “I would have thought it might be the opposite. Multiple… screens?… or parts that filter into a core.”

Like a soul… so many experiences making up the whole.

[blindluck]

"Multiple televisions playing the same show, perhaps?" Nagito suggests. "But I thought of a computer because you can put different things on each screen. You might think each one had its own computer if you didn't see the full setup, which I suppose is the case with us here."

What seems like multiple instances of themselves actually being one interconnected whole.

[toilet_bound]

“Well then…” He at least understood the basics of what Nagito was saying… “Still, no matter the source, it doesn’t change the monitor. Whatever you see on there doesn’t change your feelings for what’s displayed. Right~?”

Were they talking about computers anymore?

[blindluck]

Nagito shrugs. "I think it depends on what's on all of your other monitors. But that doesn't seem like something we can see even here."

[toilet_bound]

“Hmmm… That’s true. At least, for us it is.”

Speculation, that, but still… Hanako had his own thoughts on the matter.

[blindluck]

"Ferryman-san may be able to see more, of course," Nagito says--he assumes that's what Hanako is referring to, at least.

[toilet_bound]

“Oh, of that I have no doubt. Whether they will be forthcoming with the information is another question~”

When Hanako had first asked, the Ferryman said this part of their duty always caused more confusion. It was an interesting note… but Hanako couldn’t say he would be forthcoming with such information either.

“They’ve traversed both ends of the River, or so they say, so the chances of them seeing things beyond our own reach isn’t unusual.”

[blindluck]

"You were a ghost for a while, right?" Nagito asks, though it's a rhetorical question since he already knows the answer. "Do you have any extra insight into spirit behavior?"

He's not sure if Hanako has anything useful to say, or if he has anything useful he will say, but it'll probably be interesting regardless.

[toilet_bound]

“Right~! Eeeeh… do you want to hear all of my dirty secrets? I don’t think that’s fair!”

He’s joking, obviously at least to himself, but he can’t help the verbal teasing in Nagito’s direction.

[blindluck]

"They can be some other spirit's dirty secrets, if you'd prefer!" Nagito chirps.

[toilet_bound]

That lights Hanako’s gaze up like holiday lights. “Really~? Really, really?!” The fact that he could say legitimately anything and no one would be here to contradict him is highly tempting!

[blindluck]

"As long as they're worthwhile," Nagito says; that's no guarantee of getting something useful out of Hanako, but he's hoping it will at least give Hanako something to consider for the sake of being interesting.

[toilet_bound]

“Hmmmm…” Hanako leaned close to Nagito, a smile in his face. “In that case…”

A pause as he situated at Nagito. “What fun would that be~?”

Seems like he was right - Hanako might not prove useful after all. “‘Usefulness’ solely depends on perspective, right? Or is governed by the rules set. So here… even my knowledge might not be applicable!” That’s something. “Still… you’re looking for more on our mysterious guide… or the Wraiths perhaps…?”

[blindluck]

Nothing much, then. Well, even if he's decades old, Hanako is still a child in the end. Nagito's smile doesn't so much as twitch, giving Hanako no particular reaction. "Of course. I think most of us are, after all!"

[toilet_bound]

“Naturally~” That excess excitement calms down again, leaving him almost sheepish. “Unfortunately, I know just about as much as you do. My own experiences from Before might not be as useful as you are hoping.”

He isn’t side-stepping the issue, but it is a fair warning.

[blindluck]

"If it turns out not to be useful, then we can just call it a bonding experience!" Nagito chirps. It's not clear if he's joking or not.

[toilet_bound]

[Nagito doesn’t seem deterred, so Hanako nods, frank for once.]

Well, then… where to start…

If this place is anything like the school, then there’s a hierarchy. Our good guide here has implied that they aren’t the only one involved, though we have yet to see anyone else, right? That just means we need to get them to tip their hand… eventually.

At first, I thought this might be a Boundary but… if it is, then the Ferryman doesn’t seem to be the one in charge of it. I’m certainly not either. But, if the rules are the same, then whoever’s in charge has power over us, and that’s whats trapping us here. Doesn’t mean they don’t have a weak point though~

[He pauses, making sure Nagito is following so far.]